Dear Editor,

Mr Lloyd Davidson's letter captioned 'We too could overcome' (28.9.2001)[ please note: link provided by LOSP web site ] gave me pause to reflect on the way two people could have the same experience and come up with different memories and perceptions. I never laughed while I waited in the 'Guylines' for whatever food was available during the PNC government. I do not remember those around me falling about with mirth either. Perhaps Mr Davidson was never in the lines I waited in! Those were grim times but not because of economic pressures from abroad (remember Guyanese were leaving to live in countries where these so-called economic pressures did not amount to starvation and despair) but because of the gross mismanagement of the regime. (Are we expected to thank the PNC for putting us through the "severe internal and external pressures," and over the "insurmountable obstacles" that are apparently needed to make us great?)

I recently had a conversation with a PNC Reform supporter and came away amused. For me, it was a surreal experience. We talked of the present despair and hopelessness in Guyana - our conclusion was similar - but if I were to give my reasons for my despair it would be very different from that supporter's.

I despair that the PNC Reform would ever allow any progress or development while they are in the opposition. I despair at the denial of the PNC dictatorship and all that that had meant for our country and its people by those like Mr Davidson. And I despair that the PPP/C government bumbles along seemingly unable to deal with the opposition's humbug and menace, and making mistakes at every level. These give me my "foreboding sense of hopelessness."

The two parties do not on their own or together provide any hope for our country.